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historical notes
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The artist (lithographer, printmaker, illustrator), teacher, critic, writer, and art dealer, Margaret Lowengrund, established The Contemporaries, a hybrid printmaking workshop, and gallery space, in 1951 at 959 Madison Avenue. The gallery primarily represented American graphic artists and promoted the art of printmaking, especially lithography. The Contemporaries also exhibited the work of printmakers from Europe, South America, and Japan and, to a lesser extent, modern sculpture.
In 1955, Lowengrund moved her gallery to 992 Madison Avenue, and the printmaking workshop—now called The Contemporaries Graphic Art Centre—relocated to larger quarters at 1343 Third Avenue. With the support of a $50,000 grant from the Rockefeller Foundation, The Contemporaries Graphic Art Centre merged in 1956 with the Pratt Institute to become the Pratt-Contemporaries Graphic Art Centre. After Lowengrund’s untimely death, the workshop was renamed the Pratt Graphic Art Center. The Contemporaries gallery remained open until 1968 at 992 Madison, but with new owners and new exhibition priorities.
Before starting The Contemporaries, Lowengrund taught color lithography at the New School for Social Research. Also, She wrote prolifically as an art critic, most notably as an associate editor of Art Digest—though she contributed columns to several newspapers in Woodstock, NY, where she had a home.
She served as a registrar at the National Academy of Design School of Fine Arts. In addition, Lowengrund’s work was exhibited at the Kleemann-Thorman Galleries, ACA Galleries, the Philadelphia Print Club, the Baltimore Museum of Art, etc.
-The biographical information for this entry was provided by the art historian, Christina Weyl, combined with information found in the finding aid for the collection held by the New York Public Library.
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